Thousands of Iowans suffer every day from the hidden pain that is mental illness. Many suffer in silence; a few are driven to the extreme action of taking their own life.

All those who are afflicted with mental illness deserve the best care that modern medicine can provide. Sometimes, perhaps often, they can’t get that care through no fault of their own.

That’s why we are pleased to see that state Rep. Ann Meyer, R-Fort Dodge, is moving quickly early in this year’s legislative session to provide some help to our fellow Iowans who are dealing with mental illnesses. She has introduced four bills to do that. Two of those measures seek to address the state’s chronic shortage of trained mental health care providers.

One of her bills would increase the bed capacity at the state-owned Cherokee and Independence mental health institutes by 50 percent. That amounts to 32 more beds for adults and 14 more beds for children and adolescents.

Another bill would expand the University of Iowa’s residency program for psychiatry. A residency is a four-year program that recent medical school graduates go through to learn a specialty. By adding to the existing residency program, this bill is intended to increase the number of psychiatrists in Iowa.

A third bill from Meyer also seeks to recruit and retain mental health professionals in the state by providing additional student loan relief.

The last bill calls on the state Department of Human Services to establish a new Medicaid reimbursement rate for people needing a higher level of inpatient psychiatric care.

We urge the Legislature to pass all four of these bills and send them to Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Yes, these measures will cost the state some money. But they are potentially lifesaving initiatives that will be worth every cent. The state government has a healthy budget surplus now, and the millions that would be spent to implement the steps Meyer envisons in these bills would scarcely put a dent in it.

We thank Meyer for striving to help our friends, relatives and neighbors who struggle every day with mental illness.

We again call on state senators and representatives to pass these bills quickly.